HTG - Healing the Gut September/October 07 - Page 4

[transformed]

Can someone break down exactly what candida treatment looks like? I see you all posting about something called "die off" and I am curious about what that is-symptoms....and it seems like die off would be a possitive thing,. right? Meaning you are getting it under control?

How exactly do you get it under control? How do you know when it is under control?

[Theloose]

Die-off:
If your gut is full of bad bacteria and yeast, and you want to replace it with good bacteria, the bad has to go somewhere. The bad bacteria have toxins and other bad stuff in them, and as they die, the toxins are released into your body. Your body then needs to get rid of them. Just like when you get sick, you feel gross because your body is fighting and clearing out the virus, not because of the virus itself (that's why you can be contagious before you have symptoms), the die-off can make you feel gross and give you all sorts of new symptoms. But then when they're gone you start to feel a lot better.

so yeah, die-off is a step in the right direction, meaning you're getting it under control. But depending on how aggressive you're being, it can make you feel a whole lot worse than before you started.

[transformed]

Could I possibly have a candida issue if I have NO digestive problems? I am not constipated, diahrea, nothing. I have a yeast infection right now but its a very rare occasion. (Mabye once a year or less)

I have the depressive and fatigue symptoms and those are the ones I want to get rid of....

How do you know when you have it? I need to dig in poop dont I.....ugh: Can I pay a doctor to dig in the poop for me?



Jenny

[tempestjewel]

Originally Posted by bluets

even just plain ol' epsom salts in the bath are super for detox and for boosting a number of biochemical pathways.

In Digestive Wellness for Children she suggests baths with 1/2 cup epsom salts and 1/2 cup baking soda (because its alkalizing) and this is what we do for our DD. Really seems to help. She used to complain epsom salts made her skin sting (back when it was all broken) but I found if I added it to her bathwater without her knowing the problem solved itself :

[Theloose]

yeah, you can have a yeast and/or bacteria problem without digestive symptoms. And on closer inspection, you might be non-normal in ways you didn't even think about. I think there are a variety of theories/ways to get rid of candida. the one I've heard of is ZERO carbs. no sugar, no grains, no fruit. preferably no veggies, even, but that's not particularly healthy. www.naturallythriving.com outlines one candida treatment plan, and has a pretty comprehensive list of symptoms.

the thing is, a lot of the yeast symptoms are similar to the bad bacteria symptoms in that they are just symptoms of your digestion not working like it should.

before you go and dig in poop , i'd look into eating more traditional foods, and make sure you're eating plenty of good bacteria. that can make a HUGE difference compared to the SAD (standard american diet), and i've had at least a couple people say that eating traditional foods did more for them, healing-wise than the SCD or a candida diet.

[transformed]

thx 4 the website.

[newcastlemama]

Originally Posted by whoMe

newcastlemama and applezz - are either of you doing the intro and/or stages? I've started without them (today's my day 2 and a half - the first day was a test run) but am thinking about just getting the book and doing the whole shebang even though my own symptoms aren't really obvious. My reasoning is that first, it should jump start everything which should lead to faster results, and second, it i don't notice changes, i don't want to have the 'what ifs' and uncertainty that maybe i did it wrong or it's just too slow and gradual.

I don't have noticable digestive problems besides many food allergies. So I loosly did the 2 day intro and then atrting eating the other stuff (not beans though). I chose this diet because it seemed like a good fit for me. I am still concentrating on bone broths and ferments for healing along wth digestive enzymes.

I even had raw 24 yogurt and I am barely noticing any symptoms! Before I would have had bad BMs the same day as well as aching ears and body with in a few days. So, IMO, I have made progress just over the last year of generally avoiding my sensitive foods, taking enzymes, and doing TF. I am still just going to do yogurt every few days (instead of everyday) as to not overwhelm my system. I also tried eggs and had the same result I am very excited.

[MsBirdie]

this is the diet I am following . . .

http://www.purplesagecenter.com/print/dietary.pdf

at my doctors suggestion.

[newcastlemama]

Originally Posted by applezz

Newcastle be delighted to be your pal on this trip. I too am a big believer in thinking positive. I am a hypnotist by trade, and I know first hand the mind can do amazing things when taught how.

Looking forward to chatting with you all more.

Applezz

I am a serious beliver in postive thinking and affirmations after this past week. I really think the stress of negativity was hurting my body. I am working on some pregnancy and birth affirmations right now. Now I know what the Bible means when it talks about the renewing of the mind..it is amazing.

About cravings/hunger--I am 18 weeks pregnant and kind of feel like my tummy is being smahed in there so I feel very full eating a normal sized meal. I generally eat things like meaty bone broth stews and a glass of grape water kefir for dinner. I use fat liberally which is why I think my cravings and appetite stay under control. I also focus on animal products first since I think they are best for baby development. The SC diet also is not that far off of how I have been eating so I was not hard to transition. For a craving I have been really into fresh fruit just like my last pregnancy. (I don't think cravings are bad as long as they are for whole foods. They can be used to direct your body to what it needs).

Jen

[Theloose]

When I reintroduced wheat to dd, it took about 36 hours for a reaction. I had a spoonful of 24 hour raw milk yogurt 48 hours ago, and so far, no obvious reaction!! oh man, if I can have yogurt, I'm so excited!

[applezz]

Hello all

Ok I have a bad memory, but someone posted about breakfast....

The almond bread is good ( but keep it in the fridge, or it will go bad in a few days (learned that this week!) I have an egg about 2 mornings a week, sometimes I scramble it, or make an omlet. My current breakfast of choice is yogurt with 1/4 cup of freshly ground flaxseed in it. If you stir it in and leave it sit for a few minutes it thickens up, and is almost like a fruity oatmeal. I really like it, and I stay full all morning.

Newcastle, WOOO HOOO on being pregnant ( my sister is also 18w pg). Yes one of the things I am telling myself daily is "I love how I eat now". LOL. Now I did go totally off the wagon yesterday for my daughter's birthday party, i ate sweets and cake and Monster Munch (if you are in the UK you knwo what that is, and it is a huge deal for me in the US cos I cant ge tit here often!! LOL. If you are in the US, it is a potato chip type snack, well corn, think Funnions, but MUCH better) but no ill effects today thankfully(ill effects for me are increase in the wierd pain around my right hip.). Funny what you said about fat, cos up until a week ago, I tried to use minial fats, and I wonder if that hasnt contributed to my issues (I am super constipated - if I didnt use fibre I would only poop once a week), but as the SC Diet is calorically limiting, I have been eating more fats, and I wonder if that hasnt helped some. Now that being said, my intestines work VERYslowly, and it takes a full 48 hrs for food to clear my system, often longer. So I may have more pain tomorrow in reference to my binge yesterday.

I know lots of people on here have the opposite of constipation, but if anyone has info on keeping things moving and healing small bowel erosions, would be excited to hear what you know.

Whome, how is it going? I am still (well except from yesterday) just doing the legal things on the SCdiet list. I am "cheating" with activia yogurt, because from what I have read diarrhea is the usual side effect of lactose issues ( please someone correct me if I am wrong, cos I am WAY new to this), so until I learn otherwise, and slow to poop I will jsut keep using Activia.

TTYL

Applezz

[chilliepepper]

If you could just do one thing...

Ok, here we go. I'm new to all this HTG stuff and EXTREMELY overwhelmed. I've read through part of the cheat sheet and skimmed this thread, and also read a lot in the allergy forum. I also have the NT book.

My initial take on it is that it seems...well, inaccessible to me. I think our family eats a little better than the Standard American Diet, but still pretty mainstream compared to y'all. I mean yeah we try not to eat much processed food / fast food and try to eat whole grains, but that's pretty trendy now anyway. When I read about all the raw milk, enzymes, probiotics, etc. etc. the first question that comes to mind is "where would I get all this stuff?" and the second is "how would I afford it?" I mean honestly, our food budget doesn't really even allow for organic produce, let alone raw milk at $10 a gallon!

BUT I'm still interested. So my question is, if you were me and just wanted to ease into this way of eating, what is ONE CHANGE you would make?

Thanks.

Oh, and ETA: My DH has struggled with stomach issues (IBS?) for years now, and our kids show some signs of problems (both have mild eczema and our 2yo has very loose multiple stools per day), so I do have a reason to be here LOL!

[transformed]

chille do you know about www.localharvest.org

I found a local organic farm that delivers me food and saves me a TON of money on organics. I do belive she is raising cows too, and I get eggs also.

Raw Milk....I think there is a site you can locate that too. I wouldnt buy from the hFS because its probably expensive if they even sell it! Go to the farm directly.

But I am imagining a really gross texture and taste with raw milk so I dont know if I am going there.

It took me a while to get used to organic milk!

[Theloose]

for raw milk, i think the site is www.realmilk.com. As for the taste, if you've had both ultra-pasteurized and normal pasteurized, and noticed a difference (I thought the u-p was a little cooked/sweeter tasting), the difference between pasteurized and raw is kind of like that in reverse. Obviously still milk, just tastes a little tiny bit different.

for little tiny changes, think getting rid of bad and introducing good. Here's a list, choose any that you think you could try to do:
I've found that we really don't spend that much on food, even with paying $16/gal for raw milk (yeah) because I'm making stuff at home, not buying prepared foods, and not eating out. Those are the really expensive things. Also, local, organic, super fresh and ripe produce from our farmers market is cheaper than the sometimes-organic, not-so-local, not-so-ripe produce at our grocery store.
*Eat real foods - so cook at home, or go to quality restaurants. Limit processed anything and fast food.
*Cut out trans fats
*Switch to whole grains (in whatever you think you can handle)
*Cut out artificial sweeteners and then stuff like corn syrup
*Try to limit soy

*Don't be afraid of fat
*Add in yogurt. If you're feeling ambitious, make your own (it's really easy and so much cheaper!) or if you're not, just get a big carton of plain, and flavor it yourself. If even that's too much, buy some that looks good but make sure it has active cultures.

[Theloose]

so don't have time to be posting right now...

dd's 9mo well baby is today, and we're seeing her new dr. and leaving in 15 min!
I'm going to talk to her about leaky gut, and see if she can do nutrition testing on me and/or a leaky gut test and/or compehensive stool analysis for dd or me.

As for the SCD, I'm roughly following it. As I tried to do the intro, I found myself questioning *why* am I not eating that and *why* am I eaating this instead. I've also been reading about Rubin's Guts and Glory program. He's the guy behind the Maker's diet (I think) and he fully supports and endorses the SCD, but then improves on it by making it traditional foods, limiting fruit to 2-3 pieces per day, and not being quite so fanatically against grains - they're in the "not-so-bad" category (as opposed to "good" "bad" or "ugly", *if* they're soaked/sprouted/fermented. He also recommends a lot of supplements like clay, probiotics, minerals...

So I think I'm leaning more in that direction. We haven't noticed any significant changes yet, but dd still hasn't reacted to the yogurt. I'm so excited!

[newcastlemama]

Originally Posted by whoMe

so don't have time to be posting right now...

dd's 9mo well baby is today, and we're seeing her new dr. and leaving in 15 min!
I'm going to talk to her about leaky gut, and see if she can do nutrition testing on me and/or a leaky gut test and/or compehensive stool analysis for dd or me.

As for the SCD, I'm roughly following it. As I tried to do the intro, I found myself questioning *why* am I not eating that and *why* am I eaating this instead. I've also been reading about Rubin's Guts and Glory program. He's the guy behind the Maker's diet (I think) and he fully supports and endorses the SCD, but then improves on it by making it traditional foods, limiting fruit to 2-3 pieces per day, and not being quite so fanatically against grains - they're in the "not-so-bad" category (as opposed to "good" "bad" or "ugly", *if* they're soaked/sprouted/fermented. He also recommends a lot of supplements like clay, probiotics, minerals...

So I think I'm leaning more in that direction. We haven't noticed any significant changes yet, but dd still hasn't reacted to the yogurt. I'm so excited!

It's all about finding something that works for you and what your issue is. I feel bad and get fat quickly eating grains so I enjoy being grain free and think it is best for me. (I think it is because I am Scandinavian and their native diet did not include any grains that I know of, but was high in fatty fish and meats)

Don't be too shocked or diappointed if you talk to the dr at the well baby and thinks you are nuts or has no clue what you are talking about I have found my research and knowagable mamas to help me more than anything.

That is so great about the yogurt. I am so happy for you! I am no longer reacting like I was to 24 hour raw yogurt OR eggs!!! (I have been off my foods for about a year). It is so thrilling to have evidence that my body is healing!

Jen

[newcastlemama]

Originally Posted by chilliepepper

Ok, here we go. I'm new to all this HTG stuff and EXTREMELY overwhelmed. I've read through part of the cheat sheet and skimmed this thread, and also read a lot in the allergy forum. I also have the NT book.

My initial take on it is that it seems...well, inaccessible to me. I think our family eats a little better than the Standard American Diet, but still pretty mainstream compared to y'all. I mean yeah we try not to eat much processed food / fast food and try to eat whole grains, but that's pretty trendy now anyway. When I read about all the raw milk, enzymes, probiotics, etc. etc. the first question that comes to mind is "where would I get all this stuff?" and the second is "how would I afford it?" I mean honestly, our food budget doesn't really even allow for organic produce, let alone raw milk at $10 a gallon!

BUT I'm still interested. So my question is, if you were me and just wanted to ease into this way of eating, what is ONE CHANGE you would make?

Thanks.

Oh, and ETA: My DH has struggled with stomach issues (IBS?) for years now, and our kids show some signs of problems (both have mild eczema and our 2yo has very loose multiple stools per day), so I do have a reason to be here LOL!

I just want to encourage you to make changes slowly. It is very overwhelming. It is taking me 18 months to get to where I am doing all this stuff. I would switch what you already eat. For example--when you run out of bread then start buying sprouted bread (good price at Trader Joes). Dairy products--start buying butter, buy some plain whole milk yogurt, find some raw milk. I think these should help with the digestion issues too. Locate some kefir grains to start fermenting the milk to further heal digestion..I think 2 c of 24 hour fermemnted kefir has 5 TRIllion becteria. Way more than any pill and cheaper! Start finding some good eggs. Keep things simple. I focus on buying the best animal products I can afford starting with dairy (which is the most important thing to buy organic IMO). I don't buy organic produce unless it is very reasonably priced that day.

We are here to help too. Head over to Traditonal foods for food questions as well.
Jen

[Theloose]

Originally Posted by newcastlemama

Don't be too shocked or diappointed if you talk to the dr at the well baby and thinks you are nuts or has no clue what you are talking about I have found my research and knowagable mamas to help me more than anything.

I our new dr!!
I'd met her once before when she got our GI specialist appt moved up, and liked her then. She's young, has a 2yo, is pg, thought about not vaxing her own daughter, has a friend who ec's, admits what she doesn't know and is happy to find out more. I explained the whole leaky gut theory (she'd kinda heard of it before) and she said it sounded totally reasonable and on the right track. She also said not to worry, that it'll soon go away (babies usually outgrow their sensitivities) and I'll forget it was ever so all-consuming. AND she's going to find a nutritionist who will test my nutrient levels for me. woo hoo!

In other news, dd's iron is low and so we need to get a more extensive panel done.

off to research iron

[Theloose]

Originally Posted by newcastlemama

I just want to encourage you to make changes slowly. It is very overwhelming.

:
Start with just getting used to the new and different flavors, and *then* worry about the quality/preparation/etc.

[newcastlemama]

Your dr sounds like a blessing whome!

Jen